Malcolm X: “The Ballot or the Bullet”

(1964)

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So today, though Islam is my religious philosophy, my political, economic, and social philosophy is Black Nationalism.… If we bring up religion we’ll have differences … but when we come out here, we have a fight that’s common to all of us against an enemy who is common to all of us.

The political philosophy of Black Nationalism only means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community.… The time when white people can come in our community and get us to vote for them so that they can be our political leaders and tell us what to do and what...

Source: Reprinted courtesy of the family of Malcolm X. Malcolm X is a trademark of the...